


Never Too Late

by victoridiaz



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Homophobia, jake and holt bonding because we don't have enough of that, just a real gross dude being homophobic, no violence or anything though, rated teen and up for the homophobia, some fluffy peraltiago at the end, some gross old homophobe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 13:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17305187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoridiaz/pseuds/victoridiaz
Summary: Coming out fic! (sort of.) When an old, homophobic colleague of Holt’s arrives and harasses him, Jake is furious and immediately trails the man to get revenge. Holt wants Jake to drop it, but Jake continues. Jake's persistence in catching the homophobic man comes with a growing desire to come out as bi to his colleagues, and eventually, he reveals it to Holt in an effort to save his case. The fic ends with some fluffy peraltiago and Jake coming out to Amy :)





	Never Too Late

**Author's Note:**

> I really love the canon relationship that Holt and Jake have so I wanted to write a bit about it here. This also reads SO MUCH BETTER if you read it in their voices!! enjoy :)

The precinct elevator dinged and Jake wheeled around in his chair, turning to see who had just arrived. A stash of files flew off his desk and gently settled to the ground. He’d been going through as many old cold cases as he could, but there was nothing new and open to work on and Jake was getting more restless by the second. He half-hoped the person entering the precinct was there to report a gruesome murder or a badass robbery. Ok, he full-hoped.

An older, bald gentleman who bared a striking resemblance to Hitchcock entered the room. He wore a grimy white t-shirt, wrinkled police jacket, and made careful effort of displaying his gun and badge. As he walked his face twisted in what appeared to be an angry, menacing look.

Jake grinned. _Please let him be here to report a case. Please let him be here to report a case._

The man walked with purpose straight to Holt’s office. Eager to find out the situation, Jake followed, and was disappointed as the man shut the door firmly behind him.

Jake watched as the man put both his hands down on Holt’s desk, his expression unknown. From the tone of the room, Jake couldn’t imagine it was a good one. He heard raised voices, and strained to hear what was being said.

“ _Cops like you make me sick, Raymond! Go rot in hell._ ” The man had an ugly voice, again, somewhat similar to Hitchcock’s.

Jake’s intrigue slowly turned to disgust as he watched the man dump Holt’s jar of pens, including the rainbow flag, into his trash can. He quickly scampered out of the way as the man stormed out of the office, leaving Holt, emotions unreadable, remaining.

Jake flung into the captain’s office the moment the man turned his back.

“Hello, Peralta.” Holt greeted him, breaking his blank expression

“Captain, what the hell was that about?” Said Jake angrily, pacing.

“Yes, I assumed that would cause a little commotion.” Replied Holt, his voice still the same tone as always. “Nothing to worry about. Just a visit from an old colleague.”

Jake glared at his boss. “That’s not what it looked like to me.”

“Peralta, if you must know, that was Gregory Hopkins come to greet me. We used to work on the force together. He and I did not get along, as you may have guessed. Most cops were a little shady in that time, but this man was especially unpleasant. Myself being black and gay, and he being a rather displeasing individual, he, quote, “hated my guts,” unquote. He was up for a big promotion recently and I was asked by the department to give a letter of recommendation, having worked with him. As you can imagine, the letter was not exceptional, and he lost the job. He was just coming in here to tell me how grateful he was.” Holt unfolded his hands and pulled his crumped pride flag from his garbage can.

Jake’s insides broiled. “Sir, permission to follow him and punch him in the face? I’m really good at punching homophobic dick cops in the face.”

“Peralta, I don’t think that’s necessary. I wouldn’t bother with him, I’ve met many individuals of the like and I find they are not worth my time and energy.”

“But you can’t just let him go around insulting you like that! Sir, please, can I at least go tell him- “

“You will do nothing of the sort. You will get back to work immediately. Thank you for your concern. Dismissed.”

Frustrated, Jake blundered back to his desk and slouched in his chair. He picked up the scattered filed on the floor, but instead of looking at them, he clicked into his computer and quickly pulled up all he could find about Gregory Hopkins.

“Huh. His quote on Facebook is “Big men get shit done, dummies.”” Muttered Jake, getting angrier by the minute. He was going to stand up for Holt, no matter what he said. He knew what annoying, malevolent cops could do when they put their minds to things, and Jake was not going to let Holt lose his job again. Plus, he felt a squirming discomfort in his stomach as thoughts that had been plaguing him recently crept into his mind. He was going make sure that Hopkins wasn’t going to cause trouble, and maybe just gently punch him in the face along the way.

“Oh look. He’s rich, too.” He grunted, scrolling down.

 

Jake decided not to tell Amy about his investigation. She would probably be very angry, then very confused, then very conflicted over whether to stand up for her boss or obey his orders. She’d end up in a loop, and Jake knew exactly how that was going to go. He avoided his wife as he made his way downstairs and out of the precinct. It was almost lunch, and from the information gathered from his social searching, Hopkins was almost guaranteed to be found at Wingsluts.

Sure enough, as Jake wandered in to the restaurant, he spotted the grimy t-shirt and man hunched over at the table. _Gross_ , he thought as he entered, conscious of his every move. _I probably look like a total douchebag in here._ He snuck into the eating area and peered over a ledge. _C’mon, please be into some shady stuff, please, please_ ,

“Hey, Jakey!” A loud voice sounded from behind.

Jake jumped, crashing down onto the table and knocking over several sets of cutlery with an enormous crash.

Scully and Hitchcock were grinning over at him from across the room.

 _Dammit!_ Jake cringed as the man, Hopkins, looked around and laid eyes on him. He posed on the table and grinned widely as the man’s eyes narrowed and he strode over to him, BBQ sauce coated knife in hand.

“Hey. You’re the cop from Raymond’s precinct.”

“Uhhh,, Precinct? What’s that? Haha, just here to get some…wings…and sluts...” Jake cringed as the words spewed out of his mouth.

“Don’t play games with me, boy. I know you’re one of Holt’s little pets. Come near here again and I’ll make things quick for you and your boss. I know fatass f**got energy when I see it.”

Jake’s whole stomach dropped. He resisted the urge to slap the man hard across the face. Instead he picked himself up and was promptly yelled at by a passing waiter who had come to assess the scene.  _Great._

Jake was just about to leave when he spotted something odd. He watched Hopkins pull a strange looking bill out of his wallet, then tense and quickly shove it back in, as though he had just seen something he shouldn’t have.

Desperate for any sort of charges against the man, Jake hissed under his breath. He still felt furious from the man’s insult, and a burning desire to defend Holt and himself overtook him. _I’m not stopping till I watch this guy do something_ real _illegal. Or I punch him in the face._

Jake made sure to make check-ins back at the precinct and left early to drive himself to the 8-4 where Hopkins worked. He pulled in to the lot just as he watched the greasy, bald man get into a grimy old car and start his engine. Almost mischievously, Jake smiled and began to follow him.

Work, restaurant, bar, apartment, Jake trailed Greg Hopkins everywhere. Well…everywhere besides the strip club. Determined to catch the man in the act of something, or be greeted with an opportune moment to punch him, Jake couldn’t let it rest. Hopkins reminded Jake of the vulture, except he was worse in a way. He gave off a dirty, suspicious vibe to him, and Jake’s detective sirens were wailing. He worked it like a normal case, spending all his off time trailing the man. Unfortunately, it had lead no where yet.

 

It had been 4 days, and Jake was still absolutely certain Hopkins was up to no good. He had a feeling Holt and Amy were starting to get suspicious, though, and that his lies about going to paintball club weren’t working. All Jake could think about was Hopkins. His every second was consumed by it. To make matters worse, Holt had received 3 more nasty emails by the man, none of them threatening, but one of them mentioning Peralta in it. Jake was about to slip out during lunch when Holt approached.

“Peralta, I know you’re trailing Hopkins, and as your superior officer I _order_ you to stop it. He’s not going to hurt me, or my job, or Rosa, or _anyone_ here. I’m making sure of it. But I can’t be sure of that if you’re off following him. He’s not worth it. Leave it alone.”

Holt looked Jake in the eye, and Jake felt a squirming in his insides. “Sir, with all due respect, that guy is up to something. I saw him pull out something really shady the other day. I have no open cases right now and I’m sure he’s dirty! Please let me have this, please? He called you a-“ Jake stopped himself.

“Yes, I can imagine what he called me. And as your Superior Officer-“ Holt couldn’t finish his sentence as the elevator ding sounded and a familiar face walked out.

Hopkins’ yellowy eyes scowled down at Peralta. To Jake’s surprise, he said nothing.

“Just picking up a file.” He growled.

“Up here, Gregory? File pickup is on the first level.” Holt followed him with his gaze.

“Oh, I’m aware, Raymond. I just came up here to speak to the man previously on the case, and to remind your useless, dirty detective to get off my trail and get back on his fat ass and get to work.” Hopkins turned to snarl at Jake. His eyes fell on Rosa, who was glaring out at them from her desk. “Unless this sweetheart here wants to-“

“ENOUGH!” Holt roared, and Jake dropped his bag in surprise. “You can be bitter and petty to me all you want, Gregory, but you are not commanding officer here and no one talks to my detectives like that. Get out of my precinct. Now.” Holt stood stoically in front of Hopkins, and somehow the lesser man seemed small and meek.

Jake smiled, impressed, as Hopkins hastily shuffled into the elevator and disappeared.

“Nice work, Cap-i-tan-“

“You are NOT to follow him, Peralta.” Said Holt sternly. “He won’t be coming back here.”

Jake glared as the Captain went back to his office. He was about to slump back to his desk when he noticed Hopkins had dropped something. A 100 dollar bill. Apart from the sudden excitment of finding money, Jake felt disgustingly suspicious.  _Who just carries around 100 dollar bills like that?_ Something wasn't right. He looked over at Rosa, and felt a boiling anger in his stomach. Without a word, he snatched his things and headed out the door.

As he perused Hopkins’ car, he noticed something strange. The man wasn’t heading back to his precinct, he was heading to his apartment. Jake pulled a hat over his face and followed, trying not to draw attention to himself. He’d taken Amy’s car as a precaution.

Hopkins pulled into the back entrance of his complex and hurried in, as though in a rush.

Intrigued, Jake pulled his coat up to cover himself and followed.

Hopkins took the stairs down to the basement. Jake felt a rush of excitement in his veins. _I’ve got to catch him now._  

It was a dank, dark basement. Hopkins neglected to turn on the light, and disappeared into the murky blackness.

Jake crept down the staircase, his hand reaching for his gun and flashlight. Just as he made it down the stairs, though, he felt a firm grip clap his back.

Instinctively, he whipped out his gun and turned around, and was surprised to see a very angry Holt standing in front of him.

“Peralta, what did I TELL you, what the _hell_ are you doing?” Holt’s voice shook, which was never a good thing.

“Would you believe me if I said I was picking up my paintball equipment” muttered Jake.

“No.”

“Fine. I disobeyed orders. But Hopkins has got to be doing something shady!”

“This is his basement, this is where he _live_ s! I can’t believe you, Peralta.”

Holt dropped his hands in disappointment. “What is going on with you? Why are you so determined to catch this guy? What has he done to you?”

“Well, for starters, Captain, he insulted you, and I was pissed, so I-“

“Not good enough. There has to be another reason you’ve been following this guy for so long. Tell me the truth, Peralta.”

Jake felt a cold stone settle in his stomach. He felt nervous, and suddenly had an urge to go for a run. He looked around anxiously. “can we go in here for a moment?” Jake opened a supply closet and Holt, confused, followed him inside.

“Look, can I tell you something I’ve never told anyone before?”

“Jacob, what is going on?”

Jake took a deep breath. “I’m bisexual.”

Holt looked taken aback. This was clearly not the answer he had been expecting. He lingered a minute, and awkwardness hung in the stuffy air of the closet like smoke above a wildfire. After a couple moments that felt like eternity, Holt responded quietly, softer than kinder than Jake had been expecting. “I see. Jacob…what does that have to do with this situation?”

Jake paused. He breathed in and out, attempting to control what had just happened. He inhaled again and suddenly everything was all spilling out. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have gotten so pissed about Hopkins. I’ve only known solidly that I’m bi for a few years really, and everything has always felt so new to me, and I never told anyone because I was never sure about myself, but then Rosa came out last year, and I finally felt like I could say something, but I never did because I worried so much about what Amy would think, I mean, we’re married, she might get mad at me for keeping something like that from her, and I was so proud of Rosa and I felt like a coward when I didn’t say anything, and I’ve been so pent up about it lately and then Hopkins came in and insulted you and I just felt so awful, I won’t even pretend to know how it must have felt to be you.”

He took another deep breath and continued quicker than Holt could reply. “I know that a person like him would have really hurt me, and it’s embarrassing, and I just got so pissed and I wanted Hopkins to be dirty so, so badly so I could arrest at him for _something_. I know I disobeyed your orders. I’m sorry” Jake gasped, his stomach squirming. Somehow, it felt good to be telling this to someone. “Also I don’t have any open cases and-“

Holt’s face softened. “Jake, you know you could have always just told me. I know how hard this can be.”

Jake relaxed a little. “I know. I wanted to tell you, but something told me I should tell Amy or Rosa first, but I just never did, and now I feel like it’s too late.”

“It is never too late, Jacob. Do you know why I went through what I did? To make the police force a safer place for people like you and Rosa. To make you feel comfortable to come out when you want and if you want, and to make it safe for you if that’s what you chose to do. I told the department that Hopkins was not fit for a higher command for that exact reason. If he was given command, it wouldn’t be a safe place his officers. You don’t have to protect my job or stand up for me, and you don’t have to go chasing down cops like Hopkins anymore. That’s what I’ve fought for my whole life. Cops like Hopkins will dwindle and die out, and people like you and Rosa and I telling the world who we are will benefit us, not hurt our careers. You don’t have to be afraid of anything. I know how hard telling me that must have been. I’m proud of you.” Holt smiled slightly. “son.”

Jake couldn’t say anything. He felt his eyes welling with tears and his immediate instinct was to fall forward and hug Holt as tight as he could. He breathed out, feeling years of pent up anxiety leave him. He stayed like that.

The air felt awkward again.

“Peralta, you don’t have to hide the fact that you’re crying by keeping your face away from me.”

“Yup” Choked Jake, and he pulled himself up. He breathed in and out heavily a couple times. Then slapped himself in the face. Then again. Then-

“Jake, let’s please get out of this supply closet.”

Jake opened the door wide, forgetting for a moment where they were. But as he stumbled out of the closet, his laid eyes right on a familiar man.

Hopkins dropped his briefcase in surprise and hundreds of bills scattered out of it. They flew everywhere, and Jake instantly reached for his gun.

“What the hell..” Started Holt, but he was interrupted as a large metal device fell out of Hopkins’ bag and clanged onto the floor.

“MONEY LAUNDERING!” Shouted Jake, squinting to mask the tears. “I KNEW IT! I _KNEW_ IT! THERE’S THE MONEY, PUNK!”

“FINE!” Hopkins put his hands above his head. “You got me, you bastard! Curse your stupid, gay ass!”

And Jake, who almost forgot what he was doing, dropped his gun and punched Hopkins right in the face, so hard that the man tumbled over.

Holt’s disbelief slowly turned to enjoyment. “I guess you are good at punching “Homophobic dirt-bag cops”, Jacob. Although, that was highly unnecessary and possibly dangerous.” He picked up the bills and turned it over a couple times. “Fraudulent bills. Jake, I believe, there’s something you’d like to say to this man?”

Hopkins picked himself up, shaken and heaving.

Jake, still squinting, grinned as wide as he could. “Gregory Hopkins, you’re under arrest for counterfeit money! You’ve been trying to get the bills right for months! But you kept messing them up. I saw you take out that one at the restaurant! I’ve got you now, punk!”

“ _Punk_!” added Holt.

“Every damn _time._ ”

 

The car ride back to the precinct was a little uncomfortable.

“Are you going to tell anyone else?” asked Holt, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know.” Replied Jake. “I was thinking Rosa. I really should tell Amy, I’m just so worried…”

“Santiago will be fine, Jacob. Only say what you’re comfortable saying.”

“might I ask what-“

“You may not ask.” Jake cut Hopkins’ scratchy voice from the back.

 

It was late at night when Hopkins was finally processed, and Jake felt a huge sense of accomplishment. He smiled at the captain as he handed in his arrest papers.

“Hey, Nice one, Jake, you arrested the douchebag.” Rosa approached, motorcycle helmet in hand.

“Oh. Yeah.” Jake laughed a little bit. “Hey, Rosa, before you go, there was something I wanted to tell you..”

“Mm?”

Jake looked around, and quickly tucked into the nearest supply closet. They were becoming a kind of safe place for him.

“Damn, Jake, you what you wanna say? I gotta head off soon-“

“I know, I know, it’s just..” Jake smiled. “I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a long time, and I just ended up telling the captain, and I still feel a bit weird about it, but here goes: I’m bisexual. I’m bi.” Jake held his breath.

Rosa’s face slowly molded into her "happy face". “Jake, buddy, that’s awesome. Totally obvious, though.”

“What?”

“Man, you’re constantly talking about how hot some guys are, you subtly asked out that one dude at Holt’s rock painting class a few years ago, _don’t_ ask how I remember, and you had that whole coming out speech prepared for me when I talked to you about it, remember? You aren’t exactly great at hiding it.”

Jake grinned. He remembered the painter quite clearly. “Guess we bi’s know each other so well it’s like, telepathic or something. Gay energy. Ya know?”

“Yeah, and you were the one who took FOREVER to notice Holt was gay until he told you himself.” Rosa grinned and punched him in the arm.

“OW! And how did you know about the painter? You weren’t even there for that.” Asked Jake.

“Gina told me”

“I see,” Jake looked around nervously. There was one last thing on his mind. “Wait, Rosa, there’s one more thing… I haven’t told Amy yet”

“Oh” Rosa’s gaze fell.

“I just don’t know what to say. I’m so worried she’ll be mad that I kept it from her…”

“Look, Jake, you helped me so damn much when I came out, so… let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. I promise I won’t tell anyone. Take it slow, buddy.”

Rosa smiled for once, with her eyes, not her face. Jake couldn’t help but feel better after she left. One more person off the list. Feeling confident, he pulled himself out of the closet.

“There you are Jake, were you and Rosa having a secret meeting or something?” Amy was standing outside waiting for him. A grin was plastered on to her face. “Come on, let’s go home.” She smiled tenderly and kissed his cheek.

Jake felt one last glimmer of confidence.

Everything was quiet back at the apartment. Amy was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, and Jake was standing in the living room, trying to process what had happened. He felt he’d rather fight 16 serial killer singlehandedly than try and say what he was about to say. He stared out the window at the yellowy moon, and the familiar glow that hung over New York like a blanket. Every word of the day seemed stitched into his mind.

“Hey Jake,” Amy approached, in her Pajamas. “You seem a little quiet tonight, is everything all right?”

Jake smiled. “You’re beautiful, Ames…” Instead of speaking, he wanted to stay there forever, staring into his wife’s face and pooling brown eyes.

Amy smiled tenderly. “Thanks, Jake.” She sat down next to him.

“Uh, so, I wasn’t going to paintball practice. I was following the guy I arrested today. I’m sorry I lied to you.”

Amy put her hand on his knee. “It’s alright, Jake, but I can’t help but notice you’ve been a little off lately...”

Jake tensed. “Should I do this in an accent to cut some of the-“

“ _No_ , Jake.”

“Fine.” He sighed. “Ames, I’m bisexual. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

Silence.

Amy giggled a little bit. “Sorry, it’s just, I can tell you were trying to suppress the accent and that came out really funny.” She shook her head. “Ugh, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that, you’re right, this is awkward…”

Jake’s nerves were on fire. “But you’re ok with that? I promise, I love you, I’m not going to leave you for Charles or Hitchcock or anybody, but I’m still bi, no matter what?”

Amy smiled. “Yeah. Jake, you know l love you no matter what. It’s great that you’re bi! I mean, Rosa’s bi, I mean, oh I’m bad at this, I’m sorry…” She took a deep breath.

“Ames, it’s ok.”

Amy didn’t say anything this time, she just leaned forward and kissed Jake gently. “I love you.”

“I Love you too. I know I should have said something earlier, I just couldn’t bear the thought of you being mad at me for it.”

“Mm. I’m not mad.”

She continued kissing him. “Although, remember when you were in Florida and you kissed Hol-mmfghg-mghg”

“ _AMY_.”

“Right. Sorry.” Amy giggled. “Have you told Rosa?”

“I just did, actually. And Holt. I told Holt. Oh god, I didn’t mean to say that, I wanted to tell you first but then-“

“Jake, relax. I can see why you told them first.”

“You can?” Jake relaxed.

“Yeah, Jake, of course. You knew they weren’t going to react badly to it. You should have known I wasn’t going to, either.”

“Thanks, Ames.”

"Ooh, did you punch that guy that was pissing you off? You know, they one that kept harassing Holt?”

“Yeah. Plus I arrested him.”

Amy grinned. “good work, detective.”

By now Jake was used to Amy still acting like his boss at home. He never minded it. He took both her hands and held them tightly. He loved Holt and he loved Rosa, but there was really no one he’d rather be with than Amy. He kissed her gently, feeling the last bit of worry flood out. He would probably end up telling Charles and Terry and Gina and the rest of them one day. But for now, he was here, with his wife, the one person who mattered more than anything, and that, somehow, was everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if the plot was a little all over the place, I really wanted some Jake punching homophobes AND coming out as bi, I probably shouldn't have shoved it all into one fic, oh well. Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
